Connector for securing an elongate member to a construction pile

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a connector for securing the lower end of a post such as a pylon carrying power lines to the upper end of a pile driven into the ground. The connector comprises a generally tubular structure the walls of which are formed by a latticework composed of vertical corner bars and preferably horizontal crossbars, the corner bars being fixedly secured to the pile or a metal sleeve thereon, preferably by welding. The lower part of the latticework is fitted upon and secured to the pile and the upper part constitutes a receiver for receiving therein the lower end of the post spaced apart therefrom. The resulting space is filled with concrete which thus forms a jacket for the post end reinforced by the latticework.

United States Patent 72] Inventor Ludwig Miiller Heinrich-Heine-Strasse 4446, 355 Marburg,Lahn, Germany [2]] Appl. No. 16,324 [22] Filed Mar. 4, 1970 [45 Patented Oct. 19, 1971 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 706,083, Feb. 16, 1968, now abandoned.

[54] CONNECTOR FOR SECURING AN ELONGATE MEMBER TO A CONSTRUCTION PILE 7 Claims, 19 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 287/108, 61/53 [51] Int. Cl F161) 7/00 [50] Field of Search 61/53, 54; 52/295, 296, 297, 726; 287/108 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,124,955 1/1915 Ripley 52/726 1,186,111 6/1916 Luten... 52/653 1,679,297 7/1928 Ehrler 52/742 Primary Examiner David J. Williamowsky Assistant Examiner-Andrew V. Kundrat Attorney-Bane, Baxley & Spiecens ABSTRACT: There is disclosed a connector for securing the lower end of a post such as a pylon carrying power lines to the upper end of a pile driven into the ground. The connector comprises a generally tubular structure the walls of which are formed by a latticework composed of vertical comer bars and preferably horizontal crossbars, the corner bars being fixedly secured to the pile or a metal sleeve thereon, preferably by welding. The lower part of the latticework is fitted upon and secured to the pile and the upper part constitutes a receiver for receiving therein the lower end of the post spaced apart therefrom. The resulting space is filled with concrete which thus forms a jacket for the post end reinforced by the latticework.

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ATTORWE Y5 BACKGROUND There are known connectors of the general kind above referred to in the form of a generally tubular open-ended structure which is secured to the upper end or head of the pile and into which the base of an aboveground post such as a pylon carrying power lines is inserted. The remaining space within the connector and also any space surrounding the connector are then filled with concrete.

In the event the pile is formed of several U-shaped beams facing each other with their flanges so that the pile has a generally rectangular or square peripheral outline, the top part of the pile itself may be utilized as a connector into which the base of the post is inserted. A connector structure of this kind can be used only if the forces to be transmitted to the surrounding soil strata are not very high since the adhesion between the concrete and the comparatively smooth inner walls of the beams forming the pile is not very high.

Another known structure of a generally tubular connector, referred to sometimes as a quiver, comprises strips of sheet metal welded together to form an open box of usually rectangular cross section. Lugs protrude from the inner walls of the connector box, preferably from the corners thereof, into the interior of the box so that they are embedded in concrete when the box is filled with concrete after insertion of the base of the post. The base itself may be provided with protruding lugs which also become embedded in concrete. With such structure of the connector, the load acting upon the concrete is satisfactorily transmitted to the pile itself.

In actual practice it is rather frequently necessary or desirable that the post be mounted at a slant to the lengthwise axis of the connector. For such mounting, the cross-sectional outline of the connector must be comparatively large to accommodate the slant of the post and also sufficient concrete to embed the post end adequately in concrete.

The driving of a pile with a tubular or box-shaped connector attached thereto requires careful supervision of the ramming operation. As it is obviously desirable to make the cross-sectional area of the connector as small as possible, comparatively little clearance is available for the base of the post so that the ramming tolerances are bound to be small.

Another disadvantage of using a pile with a conventional connector attached thereto, is that if an extension of the pile should become necessary a new connector must be welded or otherwise secured to the respective end of the pile extension. In such case, the connector secured to the pile itself cannot be used for the purpose for which it is intended and hence, constitutes a considerable waste.

It is further known to use a tubular open-ended connector in the form of a fork and to weld such fork to the pile in situ. Fork structures as used for the purpose are in the form of profiled irons, for example, U-shaped irons which face each other with their webs. Lugs are secured to the webs within the fork similar to the lugs previously referred to.

Extensive welding operations in situ are usually rather time consuming and expensive as complete welding equipment of the type used in the shop is generally not available. Furthermore, water tends to accumulate in the excavation dug for the construction and such water must be sucked off as otherwise the welding operations cannot be properly carried out. Clearing of an excavation requires time and is expensive and more often than not the required machinery must be brought to the location of the excavation. Moreover, the excavation must be comparatively large since a static reinforcement must be used for piles with a tubular connector in the form of a fork. Obviously, such reinforcement requires considerable space. Welding of the required brackets to the fork in the excavation itself generally requires overhead work which is inherently diflicult and can only be made by a highly skilled welder. As is evident, the reliability of the transmission of the load to the pile depends to a large extent upon the quality of the welding seams.

THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide a novel and improved generally tubular, open-ended connector which reduces welding required in situ to a minimum or eliminates it completely and permits an extension of the pile in a manner such that a connector attached to the pile can be utilized as such rather than wasted as is the case with the conventional connectors previously referred to.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved generally tubular, open-ended connector the walls of which are in the form of latticework so that the load can be transferred directly to the pile via concrete filling the gaps between bars constituting the latticework. As is evident, the latticework itself constitutes a static reinforcement so that there is no additional space requirement.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved generally tubular, open-ended connector the interior of which is free of any protruding parts such as lugs. Accordingly, the cross-sectional area required to accommodate a base of a given peripheral outline is smaller than when the interior of the connector is partly occupied by lugs.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved generally tubular, open-ended connector which can accommodate a slanted post without substantial increase of the cross-sectional area of the connector as the base of the post can protrude outwardly through gaps between the bars forming the latticework.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved generally tubular, open-ended connector which when secured to one end of a pile permits a convenient extension of the pile by using the comer bars of the connector after the same are welded to the pile as retaining elements for the pile extension. Since extensions of piles must be comparatively frequently effected in situ, such possibility of using the connector for mounting and supporting a pile extension constitutes a great advantage.

In the event the pile is a concrete pile, the connector according to the invention makes it possible for the first time to extend such type of pile by fitting upon the respective end of the concrete pile a metal sleeve or hood to which the corner bars of the connector can be conveniently welded. The corner bars can be secured to the sleeve in the shop. Such bars may consist of elongate angle pieces. The crossbars such as rods or also angle irons, can also be secured to the corner bars in the shop.

The invention further provides that the crossbars are detachably supported on the comer bars. For this purpose, the corner bars such as profiled irons, for instance, angle irons have slots through which the crossbars are extended. Such arrangement completely eliminates the need for welding operations in situ or in the shop. Hence, the transmission of the load is no longer dependent on the quality of the welding seams joining the lugs to the walls of a box-type connector as hfil'CtO-f fore known. Moreover, the mounting of the post in the connector can be carried out even if water in the excavation is close to ground level as welding operations are no longer necessary.

It has been found advantageous and within the scope of the invention to tie adjacent crossbars together by means of stressed wires thereby avoiding play of the crossbars in cutouts of the corner bars and causing the upper one of two tiedtogether crossbars to be pressed downwardly against its support surface and the lower crossbar to be pressed against the upper surface of the cutout or bore into which it is inserted. Accordingly, the lower crossbar will transmit a pull load and the upper crossbar a pressure load as each crossbar is in tight abutment with the surface in the respective acting direction of the load.

The crossbars can also be secured in the cutouts of the comer bars by means of wedges. Driving of such wedges into a cutout will press the crossbar against the respective wall of the cutout. Hence, pull and pressure loads can be conveniently transmitted from the base of the post to the pile.

The cutouts may be in the form of slots in the corner bars into which crossbars in the form of rods or angle irons are inserted. Such an arrangement has the advantage that insertion of the bars is very simple and convenient which is particularly useful when there is little space for working in the excavation.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be pointed out hereinafter and set forth in the appended claims constituting part of the application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the accompanying drawing several embodiments of the invention are shown by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an elevational perspective view of a connector according to the invention secured to a pile;

FIG. 1a is an elevational view of a connector filled with concrete;

FIGS. 2a to 2d are diagrammatic cross-sectional views of connectors attached to different types of piles;

FIG. 2: is a diagrammatic elevational view of a modification of the connector secured to a pile;

FIG. 2f is a section taken on line A-B of FIG. 2e on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 3a is a diagrammatic elevational view of a connector used for securing an extension to a pile;

FIG. 3c is a diagrammatic section taken on line A-B;

FIG. 3b is a diagrammatic elevational view of a connector used for securing an extension to a modified type of pile;

FIG. 3d is a diagrammatic sectional view taken on line C-D of FIG. 3b;

FIG. 4a is a plan view, partly in section, of a connector having a post inserted thereinto at a slant;

FIG. 4b is a diagrammatic elevational view of one side of FIG. 4a;

FIG. 40 is a similar diagrammatic elevational view upon another side of FIG. 40;

FIG. 5a is a fragmentary elevational view of a comer bar showing the mounting of one of the crossbars thereon;

FIG. 5b is a view similar to FIG. 5a but turned through an angle of 90;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the connector showing a modification of a crossbar and the mounting thereof on a comer bar; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view of a connector showing a modified crossbar thereof and the mounting thereof on a comer bar.

Referring first to FIG. 1 more in detail, this figure shows a pile l in the form of a double T- or I-beam.

The connector as shown in FIG. 1 comprises vertical comer bars 2 in the form of angle irons. One flange of each comer bar is suitably secured as by welding to the respective crossarm of the double I-beam.

The comer bars are joined by crossbars 3 such as rods which are extended through bores 3a in the branches of the comer bars. As shown the crossbars are disposed in superimposed spaced relationship to-form a latticework.

In order to retain the crossbars into tight abutment with surfaces of the comer bars, the upper one and the lower one of pairs of crossbars are interconnected by tensioned wires 4. As a result, the upper bar of each pair is pressed against a lower surface portion of the respective bore and the lower one against one upper surface portion of the respective bore. Accordingly, each upper bar can be safely subjected to a push or pressure load and the lower one to a pull load.

The lower part of the latticework formed by comer bars 2 and crossbars 3 constitutes a receiver for pile I and is secured thereto as by welding. The upper part of the latticework, that is, the part protruding above beam 1 constitutes a receiver for the lower end of a post or pylon to be supported by the pile. This end of the post is so dimensioned that when the post end is inserted into the receiver space is left between the post end and the receiver walls as formed by the bars. This space and also the gaps between bars 2 and 3 are then filled with a suitable hardenable material such as concrete thereby forming a jacket anchoring the post end within the connector and thus to the pile. The latticework which becomes more or less embedded in the jacket effectively reinforces the jacket.

FIGS. 2a to 2d inclusive, show a connector as described mounted on difi'erent types of piles.

Pile 1 shown in FIG. 2a has the same cross section as the pile shown in FIG. 1, welding points or seams being indicated at 21. FIG. 2b shows a pile formed by two U-beams abutting against each other with their side branches along which they are welded to each other. FIG. 2c shows a pile lb of circular cross section. FIG. 2d shows a pile 1c formed by two so-called sheet piles welded together.

FIGS. 2e and 2f show a concrete pile 5 of square cross section. To secure the connector of FIG. I to the pile, an adapter in the form of a metal sleeve or hood 6 is secured upon the upper end of the pile. The corner bars of the connector are welded to the adapter.

The post end should again be visualized as being anchored to the connectors shown in FIGS. 2a to 2f by a reinforced concrete jacket as has been described in detail in connection with FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3a and 3c show a pile l as shown in FIG. I and a connector secured thereto also as shown in FIG. I. The upper part of the connector of FIGS. 3a and 3c is used as the receiver for the base of a pile extension 1'. The upper end of the extension has secured thereto a second connector as previously described and the upper part of this second connector is used for receiving the post to be mounted on the pile. The pile extension and post end are anchored in the respective connector by a concrete jacket as previously described. As is evident, any number of extensions can be mounted in this manner on pile 1.

The structure of FIGS. 3b and 3d is very similar to that shown in FIGS. 3a and 3c except that the pile is a concrete pile 5 as shown in FIGS. 2e and 2f and accordingly, an adapter sleeve or hood 6 must be used for mounting an extension 7 on pile 5.

The extensions 1' and 7 are shown as double T-beams so that the second connector can be directly welded to the extensrons.

FIGS. 4a, 4b and 40 show a structure in which a post 8 terminating in base portion 8a is inserted into a connector as previously described at a slant. As is shown in FIGS. 4b and 4c the tip of base portion 8a of the post protrudes between two crossbars of the connector. Such lateral protrusion of the post end as made possible by the latticework walls of the connector, permits the use of a connector of comparatively small peripheral outline.

The post is anchored within the connector by filling the spaces within the connector and between the bars with concrete as previously described.

FIGS. 5a and 5b show means for locking the crossbars in position by means other than the tensioned wires 4 shown in FIG. 1. According to the figures the bores 3a for crossbars 3 are over dimensioned and wedges 3b are driven into the thus available clearance thereby locking the crossbars in holes 30.

FIG. 6 shows a structure in which a crossbar in the form of an angle iron 10 is supported on one of the vertical corner bars 2 by inserting one of the branches of angle iron 10 into a slot 9 formed in the corner bar 2.

FIG. 7 shows a structure similar to FIG. 6 except that the crossbar 3 is in the form of a rod which is fitted into a suitably dimensioned cutout 22a in one branch of a comer bar 22.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to certain now preferred examples and embodiments of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art, after understanding the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is intended, therefore, to cover all such changes and modifications in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A connector for securing the foot of a pylon to the upper end of a pile driven into the ground, said connector comprismg:

a generally tubular open-ended structure having sidewalls formed by elongate comer bars and crossbars, each of the crossbars extending between two corners bars in superimposed spaced-apart relationship, said corner bars being L- shaped bars including lengthwise spaced openings in one of the L-arms of each of the corner bars, said crossbars protruding through said openings in the corner bars, the lower portion of the boxlike space as defined by the comer bars and the crossbars of said structure constituting a receiver for receiving therein said upper pile end and the upper portion of said space constituting a second receiver having an inner peripheral outline larger than the outer peripheral outline of the pylon foot for receiving therein spaced apart from the sidewalls of the second receiver the foot of the pylon, and a concrete jacket filling the space within the second receiver, said jacket encompassing the pylon foot and having embedded therein the respective portions of the comer bars and the crossbars, said bar portions constituting a reinforcing latticework for the jacket.

2. The connector according to claim 1 wherein said crossbars are disposed normal to said L-arms of the comer bars.

3. The connector according to claim 1 wherein said crossbars are releasably attached to the corner bars.

4. The connector according to claim 1 wherein said openings are in the form of cutouts in the lengthwise edge of one of the L-arms of the corner bars.

5. The connector according to claim 1 wherein tensioning means tie together pairs of superimposed crossbars.

6. The connector according to claim 5 wherein said tensioning means comprise stressed wires extending between the two cross bars of each pair.

7. The connector according to claim 1 wherein said openings are over dimensioned with reference to said crossbars, and wherein wedges are forced into said openings alongside the crossbars to lock the same in the openings. 

1. A connector for securing the foot of a pylon to the upper end of a pile driven into the ground, said connector comprising: a generally tubular open-ended structure having sidewalls formed by elongate corner bars and crossbars, each of the crossbars extending between two corners bars in superimposed spaced-apart relationship, said corner bars being L-shaped bars including lengthwise spaced openings in one of the L-arms of each of the corner bars, said crossbars protruding through said openings in the corner bars, the lower portion of the boxlike space as defined by the corner bars and the crossbars of said structure constituting a receiver for receiving therein said upper pile end and the upper portion of said space constituting a second receiver having an inner peripheral outline larger than the outer peripheral outline of the pylon foot for receiving therein spaced apart from the sidewalls of the second receiver the foot of the pylon, and a concrete jacket filling the space within the second receiver, said jacket encompassing the pylon foot and having embedded therein the respective portions of the corner bars and the crossbars, said bar portions constituting a reinforcing latticework for the jacket.
 2. The connector according to claim 1 wherein said crossbars are disposed normal to said L-arms of the corner bars.
 3. The connector according to claim 1 wherein said crossbars are releasably attached to the corner bars.
 4. The connector according to claim 1 wherein said openings are in the form of cutouts in the lengthwise edge of one of the L-arms of the corner bars.
 5. The connector according to claim 1 wherein tensioning means tie together pairs of superimposed crossbars.
 6. The connector according to claim 5 wherein said tensioning means comprise stressed wires extending between the two cross bars of each pair.
 7. The connector according to claim 1 wherein said openings are over dimensioned with reference to said crossbars, and wherein wedges are forced into said openings alongside the crossbars to lock the same in the openings. 